Global News (01/27/09)

– Citigroup going through with $50 mln plane order-source (Reuters):
NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Citigroup Inc (C.N), which has received $45 billion of capital from the U.S. government, is going through with plans to buy a $50 million jet but a U.S. senator called the deal absurd and wants the Obama administration to block it.

– Week of mass strikes set to paralyse France in protest against against Sarkozy’s reforms (Guardian):
Nicolas Sarkozy this week faces the first mass-protests over his handling of the financial crisis as unions prepare to paralyse France in a general strike uniting train-drivers, air traffic controllers, journalists, bank staff and even ski-lift operators. “Black Thursday” is the first general strike since the French president’s election in 2007. All the leading unions have joined forces to protest that the government’s stimulus plans should focus less on companies and more on workers’ job-protection and purchasing power.

– AP IMPACT: US bets execs can save banks, this time (AP):WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s one of the ironies of the U.S. financial bailout: The banking executives now managing billions in taxpayer money are the same ones who oversaw the industry’s near collapse.

A Russian billionaire who apparently fell out with the Kremlin over his tax bill has become the latest oligarch to flee Russia and start a new life of exile in Britain.

– Corning slashes 3500 jobs (CNN Money):
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — High-tech glass and ceramics maker Corning Inc. announced Tuesday it will cut 3,500 jobs, or 13% of the company’s workforce, by the end of 2009.

– Google plans to make PCs history (Guardian):
Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth unprecedented control over individuals’ personal data.

– 93-year-old froze to death, owed big utility bill (AP):
BAY CITY, Mich. – A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said. Marvin E. Schur died “a slow, painful death,” said Kanu Virani, Oakland County’s deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy.

– IMF chief turns up heat on China over yuan (Times Online):
The head of the International Monetary Fund turned up the heat on China over its exchange rate policies yesterday, arguing that it was clear that the Chinese yuan was “significantly undervalued”.